Rescue Our Comrades?

As a member of the Uchiha Clan, Kei naturally took responsibility for the interrogation.

The Uchiha Clan's reputation had led everyone to form a fixed impression of them: they were all good at Genjutsu.

That impression was wrong, but it was deeply rooted. Not every Uchiha was skilled at Genjutsu.

Even awakening the Sharingan didn't change that. All it meant was that an Uchiha with the Sharingan could resist Genjutsu to some extent and cast it more easily.

Uchiha Kei's interrogation was uneventful. The man had a strong will, but Kei's Genjutsu was hardly worthless.

On top of that, the man had already been badly injured by Hyuga Aya, and his mind was clouded. Kei also had no qualms about using a few tricks during the interrogation.

So after nearly a full day, Uchiha Kei got the information he wanted. To his surprise, he also learned something quite interesting.

"There's an Escort Team transporting Konoha prisoners of war to the Iwa Ninja rear." Uchiha Kei wasn't going to keep the news to himself. He told the other two directly, though he didn't reveal everything at once.

The world of Naruto was a very interesting one. In the decade or so Uchiha Kei had lived there, he had experienced nothing but negative things, like Hatake Sakumo's suicide a few years ago.

But when he watched the show, it was full of positivity. The whole story emphasized the idea of "Bonds," and kept repeating themes like "comrades are more important than missions."

But what about reality?

Comrades really were important during wartime, because they could be the ones to take a Kunai or Ninjutsu attack meant for you.

History was written by the victors. Uchiha Kei knew that perfectly well, and he understood why Hatake Sakumo had drawn everyone's ire.

It was wartime. Without someone like the First or Uchiha Madara, who could subdue the entire Ninja World single-handedly, the value of individual strength had been reduced to its lowest point.

Hatake Sakumo's thinking wasn't wrong, but he had been born in the wrong era. On top of that, Danzo had likely fanned the flames behind the scenes, leading Konoha to lose one of its top fighters.

Still, his death had given Konoha Ninja a warning: don't let your mind wander. If your doubts caused a mission to fail, you deserved to die.

If the village was gone, what was there left to say? Naruto's era was different. They lived in peacetime, so the village had to change its approach to education. With no more frequent wars, the importance of comrades had naturally risen.

Put simply, it was a way of tying you to the village. If you formed enough Bonds there, would you still think about defecting?

Normally, Uchiha Kei wouldn't have given these people a second thought. He didn't care if they lived or died. He was struggling to stay alive himself—where would he find the time to worry about anyone else?

But he knew how things would develop in the future. The war would end this year, and the Third Hokage's decision to appoint Namikaze Minato was part of a shift in outlook.

Namikaze Minato agreed with Hatake Sakumo, and he was Kakashi's Guiding Jonin. Otherwise, given what Kakashi and Obito had done, even if they won the war, they would have been thrown in prison to await trial.

"Captain, you're not thinking of rescuing them, are you?" Hyuga Aya looked at Uchiha Kei with a cold sneer. "Don't forget our mission. Or are you planning to become another Hatake Sakumo?"

"We'll follow them into enemy territory," Uchiha Kei said calmly. "We might be able to get more information from them."

"You're impossible!" The mockery on Hyuga Aya's face grew more pronounced. "Are you planning to lead us to our deaths? Do you want us back in Konoha Prison awaiting trial?"

"No. Do you really think that's likely?" Uchiha Kei shook his head. "I don't want to say too much, but the fact that we're still alive says plenty. I want to make it back alive, and so do you. We'd better work together, understand?"

Hyuga Aya fell silent. Even Imai Kenta, who had been sitting off to the side looking harmless, turned to look at him.

That was right. The three of them were in the same boat, and they were all the same kind of person. There were some things they couldn't say too plainly.

What they didn't know was that learning this information had given Uchiha Kei a new idea: making a little political investment for the future.

Of course, he'd have to make it back alive first. Otherwise, none of it would matter.

"Tell us what you're thinking." Hyuga Aya sat down wherever she could, then casually threw a Kunai at the half-dead Iwa Ninja Chunin. "If you're thinking of attacking their rear, I refuse. I haven't had enough of life yet."

"I'm not that stupid. I'm only thirteen," Uchiha Kei said, shaking his head. "The Iwa Ninja are escorting prisoners to the rear, but according to the information from the man you killed, they also have other places where they're holding Konoha Ninja."

"Isn't that normal?" Hyuga Aya crossed her arms. "Putting all the Konoha Ninja in one place would be stupid. Besides, the Iwa Ninja aren't good at Fuinjutsu."

She stopped halfway through her sentence. After warily glancing at Uchiha Kei, she fell into thought. Imai Kenta, who had been quiet until then, tilted his head and stopped smiling foolishly.

The Konoha Ninja had been held separately to prevent trouble, and they'd been tortured and interrogated. They must have hated the Iwa Ninja with all their hearts.

But the Iwa Ninja were currently fighting Konoha on the front lines, so there couldn't be many guards watching them. Some ordinary Genin might even have been assigned to "clean up" the prisoners.

Of course, they couldn't "clean up" all of them. They might deal with the more "troublesome" ones, then gather up the rest and send all the prisoners to the rear, where they could be exchanged or used in negotiations with Konoha later.

The key question was whether the prisoners had already been gathered together. There was no way to know for sure. But since Uchiha Kei had brought it up, the Iwa Ninja Chunin must have told him something.

"How much time do we have?" Hyuga Aya asked. "And who is this man?"

"He's one of the prisoner guards. He got orders to go to the front two days ago, and then ran into us yesterday," Uchiha Kei said with a smile.

"You really are..." Hyuga Aya started, then stopped. "That's actually a good plan." She quickly nodded. "Two days ago? If we move fast, we really could rescue quite a few people."

"Then let's go," Imai Kenta said, wearing his harmless smile once more. "We'll rescue our comrades, then complete our mission."